Rakesh Sharma

Rakesh Sharma, AC, Hero of the Soviet Union, (born 13 January 1949) is a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11, launched April 3, 1984, as part of the Intercosmos programme. Sharma was the first Indian to travel in space.

Early life

Rakesh Sharma was born on 13 January 1949 at Patiala, Punjab, India. He attended St. Georges Grammar School, Hyderabad. He graduated from Nizam College. He joined Air Force cadet in 1966.

Career

An alumnus of the 35th National Defence Academy, Rakesh Sharma joined as a test pilot in the Indian Air Force in 1970. He flew various Mikoyan-Gurevich aircraft starting from 1971. Rakesh swiftly progressed through many levels and in 1984 he was appointed as the Squadron Leader and pilot of the Indian Air Force. He was selected on 20 September 1982 to become a cosmonaut and go into space as part of a joint programme between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Soviet Intercosmos space program.

He retired with the rank of Wing Commander. He joined the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in 1987 and served as Chief Test Pilot in the HAL Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to Bangalore to work as the Chief Test Pilot of HAL. He was also associated with the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas.

Rakesh Sharma (disambiguation)

Rakesh Sharma may refer to:

Rakesh Sharma (filmmaker)

Rakesh Sharma is an Indian documentary film-maker, based in Mumbai. His most notable work is the feature-length documentary Final Solution on the communal Gujarat riots of 2002.

Final Solution

Sharma made waves with Final Solution, a documentary that presents the 2002 Gujarat riots as an anti-Muslim pogrom orchestrated by right-wing Hindu nationalists in Gujarat. Himself a Hindu, Sharma used primary sources — testimony from both victims and perpetrators — to allege that the state was complicit in the violence.

The film was initially denied a certification by the Censor Board of India in July 2004 over the alleged fears that it would incite violence. Earlier, it was rejected as an entry at the Mumbai International Film Festival MIFF 2004.

A week after MIFF, it went on to win two awards at its international premiere at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival (2004). The film was the first Indian film to be awarded the Wolfgang Staudte Award (now called the Golden Bear for Best Debut), and it also won the Special Jury Award at the festival.

Rakesh Sharma (cricketer)

Rakesh Sharma (born January 24, 1982 in Moradabad) is an Indian-born Omani cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He has made several appearances as a batsman in the 2005 ICC Trophy.

References